Sharing Local History

A project to help support, develop and increase access to local heritage has been awarded funding by Arwain Sir Benfro.

Arwain Sir Benfro – the Local Action Group (LAG) for Pembrokeshire, administered by PLANED has provided funding of £43,932 to the Five Communities Group for their Sharing Local History Project. This is funded through the LEADER programme, which is part of the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, Funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.

The Five Communities Group (FCG) represents five local history societies – Coastlands, Hook, Llangwm, Penally, Pembroke and Monkton. Liz Rawlings from the Five Communities Group said: “We know that history groups throughout Wales have incredible photographs, artefacts and all manner of historical items that have been collected or donated over the years. We also know there are concerns about these valuable resources which can deteriorate over time and are not always readily available as a resource to other history societies, students, researchers, historians or genealogists.

“This funding from Arwain Sir Benfro has enable us to establish the Sharing Local History project, employing two project officers in Pembrokeshire to digitally archive and share information about these historical artefacts which range from the Mesolithic period to modern times.”

The Project Officers are Angela Jones, former Manager of the Tudor House in Tenby, and David Llewellyn, former archivist at the Pembrokeshire Record Office.

Natalie Lang, Project Officer said: “In keeping with the ethos of LEADER all the information collected will be shared with heritage groups, museums, the Record Office, and The People’s Collection, Wales.  I hope to see this making a real difference to heritage tourism for Pembrokeshire. It will also help develop and strengthen links between the communities taking part, creating a deeper awareness of a sense of place. This supportive network will benefit other groups in researching and delivering heritage projects and can act as a model for linking other history societies in the future.”

Arwain Sir Benfro is currently supporting project ideas from local community groups, organisations and businesses. As the Local Action Group for Pembrokeshire, we bring together a mix of local community representatives, business, third sector, local authority partners.

LEADER is supporting all kinds of activity: mentoring, training, feasibility studies or pilot projects that test an innovative new idea. It can also be used for projects that improve local skills, make better use of a local resource or realise the economic potential of part of the locality leading to a ‘new’ outcome or product.